1. Field
Example embodiments generally relate to an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing unit, for example, to an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing unit capable of aligning a sheet.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, a related-art image forming apparatus, for example, a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, etc., employing an electrophotographic method may form and develop an electrostatic latent image with toner and transfer the developed image onto a recording sheet. Such a related-art image forming apparatus may store a plurality of recording sheets, transport them one by one to an image transfer area, and eject the image-transferred recording sheet. Thus, a plurality of recording sheets may be randomly or regularly ejected and stacked at a specific stacking place in a related-art image forming apparatus. As would be expected, the edges of the recording sheets are not aligned.
A related art image forming apparatus may include a sheet processing unit for performing jogging, stapling, and/or punching, relative to the output sheets. With such a sheet processing unit, the recording sheets stacked at the specific stacking place may be jogged, staples, and/or punched, depending on user instructions.
However, the functions of jogging, stapling, and/or punching may not be needed and may be used only on an as needed basis. In some cases, these functions may never be used at a user site. In such a case, the sheet processing unit itself is a relatively large and expensive unit that may be unnecessary.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a related-art mechanism to perform the jogging function, and illustrates a malfunction in the related-art image forming apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sheet processing unit may include a sheet jogging tray 101 provided with a pusher paddle 102a, a sheet jogging plate 102b, and/or a loading surface 104. On the loading surface 104 of the sheet jogging tray 101, a recording sheet 103 may be discharged. When the recording sheet 103 is discharged on the sheet jogging tray 101, the pusher paddle 102a may push the recording sheet 103. An edge of the recording sheet 103 may contact the jogging plate 102b facing the pusher paddle 102a, and the recording sheet 103 may be aligned.
However, a side of the recording sheet 103 may be curled after an image fixing process in the electrographic method as illustrated in FIG. 1. In such a case, the curled region may absorb the force of the pusher paddle 102a. Therefore, the recording sheet 103 may not be aligned.